We’ve heard it all before: the government claims the nation is facing an unprecedented threat and thus citizens’ will have to temporarily sacrifice some of their liberties. It promises that this suspension is just that – temporary – and the rights in question will be restored immediately upon cessation of the emergency. But when the threat is neutralized, instead of returning the extraordinary powers granted to it, the government keeps them. And not only does it keep them, it uses them (or abuses them, as it were) in ways it’s original supporters never even dreamed, much less approved of.

So once again, we find ourselves in such a situation. Months after the horrific shootings in San Bernardino this past November, the FBI has approached Apple with a controversial request. What they’re asking the tech giant for is to break the encryption of an iPhone belonging to Syed Farook, one of the two shooters, so they can access data believed to pertain to other terror plots and connections. The unspoken assumption is that more attacks like the ones in San Bernardino will take place if the government is unable to acquire the information in question, but one wonders why the bureau would wait three months after the shooting to try and hack into the iPhone if the threat really was that imminent. Seeming to realize that this line of argument won’t work, FBI Director James Comey pulled an updated version of the 9/11 card and claimed that it’s efforts were “about the victims and justice.” And of course the case is about the 14 people who were senselessly gunned down at the Inland Regional Center, but only the hopelessly naive would imagine that that is the only thing this case is about.

Apple understands this basic principle, and it is exactly why they are refusing to violate the privacy of a devil. Because in the long run, it’s not the devil we should be worried about: it’s the continued erosion of our liberty that should really scare us.

My name is Tina, and I'm a Public Relations/Marketing Coordinator for HonorSociety.org. I'm a Vegas girl who enjoys writing, reading, hiking, running and learning new things!